Is Verizon no longer unlocking the Blackberries it sells?

I was just told by a Verizon CS agent that Verizon is no longer unlocking Blackberries (Tours). Is that policy now? I need to unlock because I am likely to switch to Sprint. Verizon is telling me that Sprint will unlock my phone. Will Sprint charge for that?

Ok 2 things, unlocking will not allow you to use the Tour on Sprint since it is another CDMA carrier, and only the GSM side can be unlocked. 2nd they do unlock, just call global support and tell them you are travelling abroad and wish to use your own SIM card (which you will buy abroad). And as ling as you meet the requirements, have been a verizon member for 60 days in good standing and be willing to waive certain rights (they will explain), then they will provide the code.

Ok 2 things, unlocking will not allow you to use the Tour on Sprint since it is another CDMA carrier, and only the GSM side can be unlocked. 2nd they do unlock, just call global support and tell them you are travelling abroad and wish to use your own SIM card (which you will buy abroad). And as ling as you meet the requirements, have been a verizon member for 60 days in good standing and be willing to waive certain rights (they will explain), then they will provide the code.

First, awesome reply. Very informative. Second, correctly me if I'm wrong, please... the Tour will work on Sprint then without an unlock? Right? I might just skip unlocking, if that's the case.

I just had a 90 minutes CS call with Big Red, spoke with a supervisor, and got nowhere. It's a long story I won't bother sharing here, partly because it will **** off loyal BB supporters.

Sprint will NOT activate a Verizon phone. Vice-versa is the same. It just won't happen. If you want a Tour on Sprint then sell your Verizon one and buy a Sprint one, that's the only way it will happen.

I was just told by a Verizon CS agent that Verizon is no longer unlocking Blackberries (Tours). Is that policy now? I need to unlock because I am likely to switch to Sprint. Verizon is telling me that Sprint will unlock my phone. Will Sprint charge for that?

Not that we know of. Sprint are the ones selling their Tours unlocked. Like mentioned above, you will not be able to use a Verizon Tour on Sprint. Once unlocked you can use it with AT&T/T-Mobile. If you have a Verizon account, you can call them and they should give you the unlock code for free.

I basically promised the Tour to someone who still has an 8330 on a long-term Sprint contract. This is frustrating.

I don't know why.
Sprint and Verizon use a technology called CDMA. Metro also uses CDMA.
CDMA can use either a SIM type card or have the ESN/MEID in the phone.
In some countries they use the SIM type approach. DOmestic carriers in the US use the ESN/MEID in firmware on the phone to identify phones that belong on their network.

Metro will flash certain phones to work on their network.
Sprint and Verizon will not.
AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM which uses standard SIM (subscriber identity modules) to identify phones on their network.

If you want a phone on Verizon or Sprint, you need to buy a Verizon or Sprint branded phone.

If you want a phone on Verizon or Sprint, you need to buy a Verizon or Sprint branded phone.

In summary, "unlocking" is a GSM concept. You can unlock the GSM side of BBs so you can use SIMs other than VZW's, and thus access GSM systems that VZW does not have roaming agreements with (like at&t).

On the CDMA side, providers (in North America, anyway) identify "their" phones by the ESN/MEID which is embedded in the phone, and most will only activate "their own". Completely unrelated to and not effected by "unlocking".

I have a friend who works at a Sprint store and another who works at a Verizon store. They both have said neither will activate the other's devices ever. From what my friend said who works for Sprint even if he tried to activate a Verizon phone it won't do it. The system checks the database for the ESN and if it's not there it won't process the activation. He said to get an ESN entered into the database takes an act of Congress basically.